1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates generally to integrated circuit (IC) fabrication, and more particularly, to a replacement metal gate method and related transistors.
2. Background Art
In IC fabrication, areas in which a metal gate is to exist are oftentimes filled with a dummy gate material that is later replaced with the metal gate material. The dummy gate material holds the position for the metal gate and prevents damage to the metal gate material that would occur to the metal gate material if it were in place during certain processing. One challenge in replacement metal gate processing is filling the gate area with metal after removal of the dummy gate material. In particular, as shown in FIG. 1, as IC technology has progressed towards ever smaller technology nodes, e.g., 32 nanometers, gate openings 10 have progressively become smaller such that voids 12 exist in the conductive metal fill 14 deposited in the gate areas. Voids 12 are created because the metal fill cannot progress through the narrowed opening and does not adequately fill spaces below the narrowed opening. These voids lead to, for example, high gate resistance and improper functioning due to insufficient work function metal in the gate.